Enemy Observation
by TheManTimeForgot
Summary: Part 7 of 'The Nexus Crusade': Upsilon readies his mind for the ultimate foe...
1. Chapter 1

"Archive, replay footage on conflict, location: Beach City."

A three dimensional environment rose from the ground of this empty warehouse, as I had commandeered it for my research. The images were from my memories of us and the Crystal Gems fighting the Alphae. My focus was not on the monster but the Gems: their weapons, techniques, and that fusion of theirs, Opal. I documented every movement for error, for any person can be an enemy and I must prepare for any opening so I can grind them into dust. Slight problem though: Steven might get in the way, will need a way to not harm him too badly….

"End Replay." The room went dark again. I closed my eyes and put my hands to my temples. What am I thinking? There are more important things to do, I must focus!

"Play combat data originating from Nekomi, Chiba Prefecture."

The holograms shimmered, shifting to the arcade basement. My memories only consisted of fighting Hild with Gamma and Omega, finding out what Mara can do as well should be a priority. I walked around, surveying the battle. The horrors of Armageddon did increase our skill as a unit, as the separation of the two demons went well. Fighting Hild however was less effective, she was fast and judging by the frequency of lightning flashes, can throw out more spells than Mara. Gamma showed increased ferocity, which in turn fed Omega while I stood back and tried to block some of Hild's magic.

I should have been more aggressive, I could do that and keep fighting easy, and the assault collapsed because of it. My idleness sparked Mara to bring a shot into our melee, blasting Gamma; an extra body would have made her think twice. Hild flung him with psychic energy into Omega, knocking the two out. Alone it was worse, she was in my mind, I couldn't come close to her, like fighting Helen, she knew _how _I fought. Then I got hit, not with magic, but by a snap kick from a piston that ruptured my spleen.

"Note; Hild is good at both physical and energy based attacks despite her appearance."

Gamma and Omega are down, I'm standing but useless, Rho and Epsilon were worn down to the nub dealing with Mara. I noticed the fragments of the broken coffin begin to vibrate. I warned Rho and Epsilon of threat and Epsilon got in the way of the now violently moving shrapnel. The wood wrapped around him, shredding his exposed skin.

"You think you had a chance?" Mara shouted over Epsilon's screams. "None of you can come even close!"

As soon as she uttered those words, Hild was behind her shaking her head.

"Mara," She cooed. "No need to make a mess of our new assets."

"B-But-"

"_Let him down." _

Mara obliged, and Epsilon flopped to the ground, in so much pain he could barely breathe. Rho and me were left standing, both of us unable to continue. Rho grip tightened on the hilt of his sword.

"We won't give up!" He cried.

"I'd rather you didn't." Even though she was so small, Hild's voice was one of absolute certainty. "In fact, I'll let you try again."

"What?"

"It's simple really, we will let you take the next door out of here," She said. "Come back if you are tough enough after your journey."

A door appeared behind us as we picked up Omega and Gamma. Before we went through I turned around.

"And Epsilon?"

Hild leaned over his still convulsing body. "He intrigues me, so consider him an incentive to come back…"

"End Replay." Walking away from the scene I realized that something was wrong with the room when I couldn't leave it. Contacting Gamma or Psyche failed as well. Using a portion of power, I created an aura around myself to illuminate my surroundings, but it only lit up a two inch area around myself. Bringing Maschinengott up to the _Vom Tag _position_,_ I stood ready for the ambush.

"If you want a fight, the dark won't help you."

"Oh please, you and I both know that I don't need it." Hild manifested from the shadows, not in the guise of a child, but as a regal woman. Despite her attempt at diplomacy, I held my guard.

"Why do you appear to me?"

"Who else could I talk to? Omega can't hold a civilized conversation, Rho's faith means he'll never listen to me, and Gamma," She moved next to me, and whispered in my ear. "I don't think he likes me."

"I fail to see a reason why he should."

She broke away and walked around me. "You really need to ask him about that."

"Make your words quick."

"In that case, I'll 'cut to the quick' as you might say. I want your help."

"In what way do you need my help?"

"What you were doing here, I have to say, is quite impressive. But I can see it in your eyes; you would be stronger on your own, able to bring down your foe _if_ you were alone." She hunched over, so her violet eyes were level to my own. "If you could give me the data you receive from your…crusade… back to me when we meet again, I'll lend you a hand."

The thoughts began to swirl in my head. "And what would the price of my loyalty be?"

Hild placed her hands on mine. "Besides all the knowledge that you will gain on the trip, I'll add my own to it as well."

"It's a pity that a woman at the age of thirty is considered 'over the hill' in this culture."

"Thirty? Maybe not, but thirty _million _however…" I let her force my hands, and my weapon, down. "I can give you the chance to make yourself perfect." Another person appeared; Helen, or at least an illusion of her.

"To gain the power to be free from everyone holding you back."

Every part of me was suddenly sensitive to my environment: Hild's touch, the weight of the blade, the warmth of our bodies. It seemed so promising…

"I see you need time." Hild let me go and walked away into the black.

"As a show of good faith," She called. "I modded your Archive to create working copies of any weapon you encounter. Come back to me in one piece, okay?"

The demon left me alone but it was a temporary state, the lights came on and Gamma rushed in. Regaining my composure I met him at the door.

"Hey, are you okay? Psyche said she couldn't reach you."

"The Archive has been giving me some trouble."

"Any breakthroughs?"

"I need more data." I stated. "Tell me everything you know about Hild."


	2. Temptation

"She's not just your garden-variety demon, Hild is the Daimakaicho; the ruler of all demons. It's rarity for her to come to Earth, but due to certain 'complications' she keeps an eye on her ventures."

"I assume you mean the goddesses Mara spoke of."

"Yeah, there's a few down there as well. Their conflict has stalled in the goddesses' favor, but with our interference something might change."

"And the human?"

"He's the center of it all."

"Why?" I asked. "What is the objective?"

"Misery," Gamma said as we walked towards the door. "Demons of any kind seek to create misery wherever they go; it's their source of power. The misery this one could potentially generate a lot of misery."

"And we fit where?"

"With our curse, we have to go to him first just to figure out how to undo it." Gamma realized as got to the door. "That's her trap."

"Then there is no need to send us through all of these hoops." I pointed out. "It is too risky that we could be killed."

"Well, Hild was always a particularly shrewd businesswoman…" He opened the door and on the other side were a squad of soldiers in white armor holding strange firearms. They wore helmets with a permanent scowl, most likely for intimidation.

"You two, identify yourselves!" Their leader commanded.

Gamma was most likely going to negotiate; I didn't wait. With a wave of my hand the squad leader began to shudder, coughing and eventually choking. He dropped his weapon, threw off his helmet and every orifice on his face leaked blood. It took only a few seconds afterwards for him to collapse and drown. The others glanced down but did not lower their guns. There was a lot of murmuring between the group, but with Psyche monitoring all transmissions we could hear them easily.

"Are they the ones?"

"Doesn't seem like it, armor and weapons are all wrong."

"If that's the case, they might be acolytes, kill them and continue search."

Gamma and me took their advice to heart, moving in at speed. The soldiers use las-rifle equivalents with polymer armor; useless against AX. We cut them down with little effort. After the skirmish we inspected the bodies, which were similar in size, skin color and facial structure.

"This isn't good." Gamma noted. "Psyche, scan for usable information."

"What are these people?" I asked.

Gamma revealed a symbol on the right shoulder: a black wheel with eight spokes. "Imperial Stormtroopers. The oldest ones are clones; the reason these ones look the same."

"Who are they looking for?"

_"Reports show a woman, pale skinned from….Dathomir?"_

"Ventress…" Gamma's hands turned into fists.

"What do we do now?" I said.

"We look for her, we'll find her, and kill her."


End file.
